


Tempête

by sorrysenpai



Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fever Dreams, Fluff, I hate Dylan, Kieran is a mom, Lauren is sick, Light Angst, the devil knows why it took me so long, this was supposed to be out last week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrysenpai/pseuds/sorrysenpai
Summary: "And last night you were in my room, and now my bedsheets smell like you"...Quite literally......(Lauki Week, October 16th—Snowstorm)
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair & Kieran White
Comments: 10
Kudos: 87





	Tempête

**Author's Note:**

> Major thanks to [ Naveri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naveri/pseuds/Naveri) and [ Allo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/All0doxaphobia/pseuds/All0doxaphobia) for the plot ♥💜

_She’s alone when she picks up a lonely daisy from the grass, translucent and dainty as light seeps through it. Then, a feather-light touch, she feels a crown being placed on her head. Not the one worn by the royalty, studded with jewels worth more than the world itself, but the kind made out of the petals in her hands. It rests well on her head as if made just for her, as the stem gets tangled with a few unruly strands._

_And when she turns, she’s met with him again._

_“Beautiful...”_

_She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out of it. She’s faced with him, but cannot see his eyes, just his smile, and ashed hair, contradicting the colour of his dark brows, but plain darkness for the eyes._

**_“The crown, not you”_ **

Lauren jolts awake, her body jerking sans the screaming as she has the epiphany of the dream. She’s met with a wooden ceiling and grey-like lighting in the room, accompanied by her own heaving and a pounding against her ribs. Waves of heat coursed through her blood and cold sweat glistened on the surface, everything ached, everything sagged and it took all her force for her to shift to her side to ease out the ache in her chest. She’s quiet as the night when she shakes from her slumber and stirs to realise that she was resting in his apartment. 

With heavy breathing and a thumb pressed firm in her sternum, the pounding eventually ceases, welcoming the weakness back in her bones through strained muscles a dull ache bleeding from the back of her neck to the blades of her shoulders, settling at the bottom of the spine. She is washed-out and left in an enfeebling state and it’s only then when she is able to notice the comfort of his sheets, and how she wants nothing more than to sink and hibernate in them, hidden from the universe till her agony is over.

Twisting further, she is barely able to clear out her haze when the glass comes to view. Recollection pours over of the snow when she arrived here; white piling up in drifts and howling winds, painting the city to a blank canvas, meant to be filled after the snow melts; and now that’s changed into something enraged, with the flakes taking from of blades as they struck with the glass of the windows and the white thickening like smog; wind cutting through anything in its way and the sound, no longer a howl but a mere gong of two worlds colliding into catastrophe. 

Feeling a knot tightening behind her skull, she drowned in the wave of fatigue that washed over her, but despite that, she was unable to fall back in her slumber. Then a rush of cold, and she has to snuggle further and pull the blankets closer, for she won’t survive the chill had it not been for him. So she tries to think more about the scent of the covers than the throb of her head, in the midst of which she fails to realise the thrumming of his footsteps. 

Then the bedroom door creaks open catching her attention, and she sees him sneaking inside. She was about to greet him, but her body decided against it, so she was forced quiet by another rush of heat pool through her veins, making her head heavier than before, so she could barely keep her eyes open. But she watched him regardless. Noticed the quiet footsteps and the languid, yet cautious movement of his legs as he made his way towards his closet. How he moved slowly 

His sleeves were cuffed at his elbows and shirt hanging loosely from his waist, and she notices the nerves in his arms, like miniature mazes ending nowhere, the way his sleeve tensed and tightened around his arm when he proceeded to open the cupboard doors. She knows it’s her cue to look away when she sees him reach for his buttons. She knows that she shouldn’t watch him unsnap each one, opening up his skin to the air. She knows she shouldn’t look when the material is slipped off his shoulders. She knows it, yet she cannot look away from this fool in front of her. 

It’s the same person who almost gets her killed and the same man who gets concerned with the smallest wound she has. _Make up your mind, jerk._

His shirt is gone now, hanging in the crook of his arm, as he gets another one out and slips it on. She watches the way his body moves with an unuttered grace, his movements, relaxed and serene, a pure contradiction of what’s outside. He was tall, thin waist and long legs, but covered with muscular angles and scarred skin. 

Lauren would and could pretend that she never saw him change as she watched him walk back outside, but her cover was blown the moment Kieran stubbed his toe on the edge of the shelf beside the closet. He let out a sharp hiss, which was unfortunately not loud enough to muffle the giggle that escaped Lauren. 

Kieran froze, a cornered prey, as he slowly looked at her behind him, her face peeking out while most of her was still buried under the covers. And within seconds, Lauren has the same reaction. They both locked gazes, no one saying anything. Stuck by the ajar door, he doesn’t know how he should be reacting or what to comprehend of this situation, while she’s slowly trying to pull the covers over her head. 

“You--I--” He was facing her now, body turned completely towards the bed, mouth agape in surprise, and something like a smirk started crawling up his chin.

“All you had to do was ask, Lauren,” He laughed. 

Flinging the blanket off her shoulders, Lauren propped herself on her elbow, the movement of which made the blood shoot up her spine and electrocuting her veins as her weak muscles strained and adjusted towards the movement. Pointing an accusing finger towards him, she retorts.

“I was not--”

“You know, on second thought,” he licks his lips and starts to smirk and, with a shaking head, traces his fingers back to the buttons of the new shirt he had on. “I don’t feel like wearing this anymore...”

“No, Kieran--” Her eyes widen with every button he’s opened, she slips out of the bed with the purpose of pushing him out of the room and completely forgets about her condition. So the moment she’s on her feet with fury and panic in her eyes, it’s only natural that her body took a plunge. Swaying as if the floor becomes a ship’s deck in the middle of a storm, she’s on the ground within seconds. The world is left spinning and she cannot see anything but fog. 

Her body feels like feathers for a moment, before taking the weight of the rocks as Lauren grips her head to steady herself. She hears him say something but is deafened by the force. But then she feels his hands on her. 

“Lauren, Lauren, look at me” taking a hold of her waist, he helps her get off the floor, as she dizzily tries to get back her balance. And when she looks at him, he can finally see her pale face and sunken eyes, feel her unusual warmth present on her skin where he holds her, finally take notice of her ragged breath and croaky voice as he helps her up. 

She gingerly holds onto his shoulders and with placid movements, he’s able to get her back to the bed. 

She is barely able to choke out a small ‘Thanks’ through the pain in her as her eyes burn in the dim-lit room. He’s crouched in front of her now, reaching eye level with her. Frowning, he presses the back of his palm against her forehead. 

“Hmm, you’re worse off than before,” he rises from his position, and her eyes follow him as he straightens. “Wait here,”

He’s out the door within a few moments, leaving her alone in the room as she regains control over her breathing. Massaging her neck and collarbones, she has a flash of recollection, and she’s back in the grass, with a nimble daisy in her hands. 

Pressing her thumb over her index, she pops a knuckle, pushing the memory out of her head. 

Meanwhile, Kieran returns with a glass of water and tablets, and she doesn’t notice the thermometer till he places the things on the nightstand. He catches her looking at him with an odd gaze as if he’s been back from a stroll in the snow. Biting back a smirk, he gestures her to open her mouth. 

“Have you washed it?” His expression becomes dry. “ **No, why would I clean it?** Of course, I have. What kind of caveman do you take me for?”

Both shoot a look before, Kieran crouching back to the ground, and muttering a small ‘open’, places the thermometer in her mouth, which she surprisingly doesn’t spit out. The foil of the sachet crinkles as he starts to peel the covering to get a tablet out, and then he’s looking back at her and she doesn’t know what to do.

And perhaps, it’s here where she is able to take a good look at him, an open face, cut at sharp angles, notices how calm his expressions are, and how he is a completely different personality when he’s at peace. She feels like holding his jaw in her palms and running her fingers over his skin to feel the surface shift under her touch. Run a finger down his jaw just to feel the sharp angle on the edge, but reflection is withdrawn when the device beeps and he plucks the thermometer out of her lips.

She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be expecting, but the amused grin he gives out is one of the last few things she had considered.

“I’m surprised you’re not dead yet,”

“Is it that bad?” she manages to probe with another sniffle. 

He nods and lets out a long lazy sigh as he rises back on his feet. “Rest up, you need it. Here.” He hands her the tablet which she takes without question. Her condition even made the glass heavy for her to hold onto, so she’s having a strain thrumming in her veins as she handles the tumbler.

“You heated it?” she asked, pointing to the glass.

“You have a bad throat, and you’re gonna ruin it further otherwise”

She is unsure as to how she’s supposed to feel for him when he’s noticing something like that but ignores the little perk of sparkle she feels up her neck regardless. She pops the pill in her mouth and downs it’s with the water. He offers to cook something as she places the glass back on the nightstand, which she declines politely.

“No I’m fine, don’t trouble yourself with that.” she rubs the back of her neck and squeezes her eyes shut before opening them again. She was sore all over and had trouble balancing, which only got worse because of her fall, as now, there was throbbing that was slowly ceasing in her knees and elbows.

“How did you wake up all of a sudden?” she was taken aback, as she didn’t realise he was still standing in front of her. 

“Ah, I—” she began but doesn’t know where to start anymore, as she herself doesn’t know what to make of it all. There’s a shiver on her skin now and it's hard to make out if it’s from the weather or just her memory playing tricks on her. So she breathes in. 

“Just,” she makes a gesture, flinging her wrists in the air languidly then bringing them back down in her lap. 

But Kieran notices the subtle choke at the end of her words, and he knows it’s not because of her heavy throat. Setting the glass aside, he presses on her forehead again before skimming his palm in her hair. He let his hand remain there, as did Lauren, as they slipped into silence with the storm getting more evident by each passing second.

“Get some sleep, it’ll be 2 in a while now,” he nudges her in the arms, helping her get back into bed, before tugging the covers over her. Well, only partially, cause Lauren got to them before he could even hold them. He watches her get comfortable, and once she’s laying back, leaves a squeeze on her shoulder. 

But in a fit of boldness, she holds his arm instead. Kieran stopped moving. 

“Could you stay here?” she askes after a few moments, her voice minimising with every word with a gentle—almost hesitant—tone. 

“What?”

She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, but he knew better. So it's not a surprise for him when ‘minutes later, he is sitting next to her, back resting on the headboard, while Lauren is lying next to him. And before long, they are greeted with silence and quiet again. Both weren’t saying anything, he was looking outside at whatever gale was visible in the darkness, and Lauren was busy focusing on the pain that gradually eased out of her. 

They would occasionally say something here and there like, he’d ask her how she’d managed to be so reckless to end up like this, and she would manage a weak chuckle and reply that she doesn’t know. 

She had subconsciously moved closer to him now, snuggling against his thigh, while his hand was back in her hair, cradling her head as the hair slipped like sand through his fingers. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he broke solace after what seemed like hours, but only mere minutes had passed. 

“About?”

“Why you were really up?”

She glanced back at him, ready to say that she is fine, but when she looks at him, something in her stops her from doing so. Kieran was serious about this, and she knows. She knows that he is aware that she didn’t wake just randomly in the middle of the night. She knows he’s aware why she’s awake, while she stirs unwell in the middle of a storm. 

“No, Kieran. Not really.” she can’t make herself look at him anymore, and she hates herself for being this way. She was with him here, alone, and whatever she says can be kept locked away and won’t ever be in the paths later on. But she cannot, as the sight of the wilted daisy brings bile back in her throat.

And as for him, he understands, so when she has nothing more to say, he presses his fingers gently in her head. Starting from the back, he reaches her forehead and presses his fingertips on her burning skin. She groans a little at the sudden gesture but starts to relax as he starts to gently knead the skin there, making her eyes heavy and easing out the knot tightening in her skull. 

“H-how long do you think the storm will last?” her voice tones down to a whisper.

His fingers are at her temples now, tracing circles, untangling the pent up tension and the pain in different parts. “Hmm… I don’t know, it should clear by midday, if not tomorrow morning.” 

She let out a weak hum, but his voice had already started getting hazy towards the end at this point. So she lets the sensation take over and let to push her in slumber. And he stays with her till the end of it. Kieran stops when he feels her breathing relax and her body goes still. Halting for another while, he slowly withdrew himself from the bed in order to leave her be in her privacy.

Alas, his subtlety lacked in his favour this time, for he manages to stir her awake. He feels her jolt and startle and that’s enough for him to freeze. 

“Hey, hey,” he holds her till she calms down, and it doesn’t take her long to do so. However, she doesn’t let go this time when she’s asleep. He feels her snake an arm around him at which he tenses.

“Laure--”

“Don’t leave,” she breathes.

He looks at her, and can still see her worn-out face and a vanishing frown, but she was at peace, and her grip was only tightening. He let out a sigh and hesitantly climbed back into the bed, slowly placing his arm below her head and the other around her waist, as she drifts further into his touch. He tries not to think of what she’s doing and focuses more on where his hands are and making sure he’s not going to touch her where she won’t like. He focuses on her fever warmth and feels terrible for finding that feeling comfortable. He eventually comes to rest his cheek on her warm head and drifts along with her till the time morning will arrive.

**Author's Note:**

> 'Come morning she's cuddled up with him and his arm is around her waist. Then she vibe checks him even tho it was her idea.'  
> *Insert Lauren Pfft* 🤭🤭
> 
> This is for the late update, cause I suck at time management 
> 
> Feel free to leave kudos and comments at the end, I love reading those,
> 
> and until next time--
> 
> _Sa-yo-nara_


End file.
